3/10/2024 0 Comments What penthouse magazines sell bestThe changing social and political climate shifted public perception of the clubs. Despite their early success, all the Playboy Clubs were closed down by 1986. Kim: But the 750,000 Playboy Club members and 60 million magazines sold yearly wouldn't last forever. Walters: You could get a scotch and soda anywhere, but you couldn't get a glimpse of a Playboy Bunny. Kim: And the Bunnies were what really drew people to the Clubs. Walters: So, you would walk up to the table slowly, and they would just be looking, "Oh, my God, there's my Bunny," and then you'd just approach a table and say, "Good evening, I'm your Bunny, Bobbie." Kim: Bunnies also had a specific greeting for guests. Walters: It told you all about the rules and regulations, how the costume was supposed to look. Kim: Bunnies had to follow strict rules dictated in their Bunny Manuals. Walters: Which is an extremely ridiculous thing because you're standing on 6-inch heels, leaning backwards, serving liquor. Tape: OK, once again, let's see the Bunny Dip down just so. Once we got to the Playboy Club and got on the floor, we learned how to do the Bunny Dip. Kim: As for what it was like to work as a Bunny. So you could enjoy a show, you could enjoy a gourmet dinner, or you could dance to disco music, or you could just go down into the Playmate bar and have a drink. Walters: In New York City, there were 100 girls there. She worked as a Bunny at the Playboy Club in New York City and, later, Miami. Soon, there would be 23 Playboy Clubs around the world.īobbie Walters: It was an incredible place to be. 50,000 members joined the original Playboy Club in Chicago in its first year. Hefner expanded Playboy Enterprises to include the Playboy Clubs, designed to embody the glamorous and luxurious lifestyle marketed by the magazine. Playboy grew to be more than a magazine it was a lifestyle. Playboy made $12 million in profit that year. Even when its first true competitor, Penthouse, launched, Playboy stayed on top, with print sales peaking at 7.1 million copies of the November 1972 issue. And while it was a popular joke to claim that one only bought Playboy for the articles, the magazine did establish a reputation for literary excellence, publishing in-depth interviews with all sorts of cultural icons and excerpts from esteemed writers like James Baldwin. The photo layouts were a seduction, with the Playmate slowly revealing more and more until being fully nude in the centerfold.īy the end of the 1950s, the magazine was selling a million copies a month. Hefner described Playmates as women who could be "the new secretary at your office" or the "girl who sells you shirts and ties." In other words, a wholesome woman you could meet in real life, not a distant, professional model. Each issue featured a "Playmate of the month," starting with Hefner's then girlfriend and subscription-department employee Charlaine Karalus, aka Janet Pilgrim. But not only was Playboy one of the first to publish colored photographs of nude women, its Playmate concept set it apart from the rest. Circulation grew quickly, partly because of the magazine's lack of competition. Hefner immediately invested his profits back into Playboy, expanding his staff. A huge success, the magazine sold out of all 70,000 copies at $0.50 apiece. Regardless, the first issue was released in December 1953. The star was never paid for her Playboy debut. Hefner bought old photos a struggling Monroe had posed for under a pseudonym, having no idea they would eventually end up as a magazine feature. The cover and centerfold featured Marilyn Monroe. He thought a tuxedoed rabbit would be "cute, frisky, and sexy." With no office to work out of, Hef put the first issue of Playboy together in his apartment on the kitchen table. But Hefner himself came up with Playboy's now iconic logo. Originally, Hefner wanted to call it Stag Party, but was challenged by Stag Magazine, so a friend suggested the name Playboy, and it stuck. Recruiting 45 investors who cobbled together $8,000, a young Hef was ready to launch what would become Playboy. In 1953, former copywriter Hugh Hefner saw a demand for a gentleman's magazine. But Hugh Hefner's gone, the original Playboy Clubs have closed, and magazine sales have shrunk to less than 4% of what they used to be. In the early 2000s, Playboy's logo could be found on everything from jewelry to tattoos, and Bunnies were all over movie screens and reality TV. Its best-selling issue sold over 7 million copies. Irene Kim: Playboy used to be everywhere. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.
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